Fluorine containing diphenyl ether derivatives with applications as herbicides were first disclosed in European Patent 3416 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,384,135 by Cartwright et. al. which are both incorporated by reference in their entirety for all useful purposes. One of the more useful compounds that came out of this discovery is 5-[2-chloro-4-(trifluoromethyl)phenoxy]-N-methylsulfonyl-2-nitrobenzamide, which carries the common name fomesafen. Fomesafen is used in a number of commercially available products either alone or in combinations with other herbicides. Fomesafen has the following chemical formula:

Recently there has been renewed research and additional applications for fomesafen due to its usefulness as a tool for managing weeds that have developed resistance to other herbicides. Enhancing the weed control efficacy and ease of application of fomesafen are desirable goals for this herbicide and are met with a number of difficulties and limitations. One difficulty that must be overcome is the poor water solubility of fomesafen. Fomesafen has a water solubility of only 50 mg/liter. This makes the preparation of concentrated water solutions that can be further diluted by the end user impractical. Fomesafen exhibits significantly greater solubility in organic solvents such as acetone, xylene, methylene chloride, and methanol. However, the flammability and/or toxicity of these solvents make them unsuitable for the preparation of concentrates. The most cost efficient way to address this limitation is to convert the fomesafen into a water soluble salt by reacting it with either sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide. This makes possible the preparation of water based formulations of the salt form of fomesafen up to 22.8% (21.7% fomesafen acid equivalent). While it is possible to increase the concentration of fomesafen salt in water to levels higher than 22.8%, such formulations become unstable in colder temperatures and are not practical for commercial use. In addition, pH of these compositions must be maintained at levels of 7.5 or higher. These alkaline pH ranges can have a negative impact on the weed control performance of both the fomesafen and other herbicides that are jointly applied with it. It is also established that the current commercial salt formulations of fomesafen have physical compatibility problems with other herbicides and fertilizers that are mixed with it.